During the grant year just past, we were able, in a limited way, to satisfy the objectives of the total project. That is, we were able to correlate the functional changes displayed by audiometric data with actual histopathological changes in the temporal bones of children. During this time, an approximate total of 20 temporal bones were obtained. Our long term goal is oriented toward providing information and observations which will help in the classification, understanding and ultimately the prevention of certain types of deafness in children. Our specific objective will be a continuation of our current studies of the histopathology of children's temporal bones. Although emphasis is upon descriptive histopathology, our present ability to collect ante mortum hearing data enhance these studies by correlating functional with histological data. In order to provide an understanding of the diseases of the ear and deafness in children, it is necessary to study the histopathology of a large number of temporal bones. Very little is known about the inner ear pathology associated with even the most common childhood diseases because few inestigators have had the opportunity to study the temporal bone of deaf children. The knowledge gained by our histologic studies augmented by detailed audiometric studies will hopefully suggest better forms of diagnosis and treatment for these diseases, which, at present, cannot be prevented. Hopefully, the ultimately contribution of these studies may be data which will be helpful in preventingsome forms of deafness in the future.